In celebration of National Nurse Practitioner (NP) Week taking place from November 12 to 18, Canada's nurses are launching a retention and recruitment project aimed at developing recommendations to grow the number of Canada's nearly 5,000 NPs.

NPs are uniquely suited to meet the growing need for primary care in our communities effectively while saving health care dollars, said Linda Silas, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU).

Governments need a plan to ensure we benefit fully from the value NPs provide to patients and our health care system.

NPs are highly skilled autonomous practitioners with advanced education and broad scope of practice, allowing them to diagnose, treat, refer and prescribe medications. NP practice also provides a unique, patient-centered model of care that includes health promotion and patient education.